Jan Magnussen resisted enormous race-long pressure from Jenson Button to win the opening race of the Lime Rock round of The Race Legends Trophy.
Magnussen burst through from the second row of the grid to take the lead into the first corner of the event using McLaren M23s on rFactor 2, but poleman Button hounded him relentlessly throughout the 13 laps that followed.
What a race!!@janmagnussen holds off @JensonButton in The Race All-Star Series – Fully Charged by @ROKiTPhonesUK #LegendsTrophy
💻: Watch now at: https://t.co/WdVqh89DFe or https://t.co/HRUYi2brRN#TheRaceMustGoOn pic.twitter.com/8V26uvLkCH— The Race (@wearetherace) April 18, 2020
No matter what Button threw at him, Magnussen was able to stay just ahead and crossed the line to win the best Legends Trophy race yet.
“That was such a tough race, I’m shaking all over!” said Magnussen.
Button added: “What a fun race, Jan was awesome in terms of where to put the car. I threw it down the inside once at Turn 1 and we tapped and were drifting through the corner. It was so much fun.”
Tony Kanaan held third behind the battling duo until falling to fifth in a brush with the lapped Max Papis on the final lap. That let Mika Salo come through to complete the podium.
Emanuele Pirro recovered from a first-lap incident to take fourth.
Dario Franchitti and Adrian Fernandez clashed while fighting for fifth and lost ground before making it back to sixth and seventh.
British Touring Car star Jason Plato was the best of the newcomers in 10th.
